3 posts tagged “xbox live”
Cable companies and other media providers should take a page out of Netflix's book. They've figured out that in order to survive in the hyper-evolving world of technology, you need to keep reinventing yourself. First, they borrowed Blockbuster's rental model with a much more robust library of films that were never "checked out." Sure, titles weren't available immediately like they would be at a brick-and-mortar store, but they were pretty damn close, and they wide title selection offset that inconvenience.
A month ago, I wrote about the pros and cons of switching to an a la carte method of television watching. Comcast's rates are ridiculous for us, considering the way we watch TV (i.e. not much, just a few shows a week). The Tivo is gathering dust and even with the baseball season half-way over, I've only watched a few games over cable. But despite the cost, the drawbacks outweighed the benefits.
Cyndi and I are wavering between whether or not to keep our cable plan when our contract is up in July. Honestly, if NBC and its affiliated networks (Sci-Fi, Bravo, etc.) were on iTunes, the decision would be pretty easy. We hardly watch any television shows regularly, neither of us watch sports very often (the occasional baseball game, and football in the fall), and we don't have any premium channels. So really, we're paying a pretty high price to watch Lost, Battlestar, Top Chef/Project Runway, and, well, re-runs of House Hunters?
- First up, there's iTunes/AppleTV. The selection of shows is great, and from what I've read, the quality's not bad, although there's no HD option available yet (for TV). Shows are $1.99, less if you buy a season, stream from your computer, and have decent sound (not true 5.1, but better than straight stereo). As far as selection, the good news is that HBO is now offered ($2.99 each). The bad, of course, is no NBC -- in addition to the lack of HD, as I already said.
- Next, Tivo with Amazon Unbox. The price is comparable to iTunes ($1.99 per episode, less for a season) and the offerings are broader, including NBC, SciFi, and Bravo. It doesn't require a computer to stream from, either, not that this is a problem for us, and you can queue up your shows from any computer (including work) and have them ready for you when you get home. Cons: poor sound quality and no HD (even with an HD Tivo). It also takes a while to start watching an episode, from what I've read. Oh, and it requires having a Tivo and paying the monthly fee.
- The final option I looked into (and have played around with) was Xbox Live. Requires an Xbox 360, but you can actually download shows in HD. From the five or so episodes of Lost that we've watched, the quality is on par with Comcast HD. SD shows go for $1.99, HD for $2.99 (or the equivalent in Microsoft points or whatever). You can start watching after only a few minutes (much like Apple). No season pass option, no NBC or premium channels. And, of course, having to watch television over the jet-engine roar of the Xbox. Not sure if it's available for Silver Accounts (the free one), but even a Gold is only ~$4 a month ($49.99 for the year).
